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The Guardian - UK

National

Judy Friedberg

Cribsheet 03.10.11

A teacher telling her class a story — Teachers are about to tell their side of the story. Photograph: Corbis

Big excitement here today about the Guardian Teacher Network survey that will go live at 6.30 this evening.

Thousands of teachers were interviewed about how the profession is changing and their answers paint a vivid picture of what it's really like to work in a school these days.

Jessica Shepherd and Wendy Berliner have been poring through the responses to pick out trends - and the Guardian Teacher Network blog will feature masses of teachers voices speaking frankly about their lives.

More education news from the Guardian and Observer

• Students fear plans to reform law on squatting may outlaw sit-ins. The NUS is warning of a campaign against any move to criminalise protest tactics:

"The idea that peacefully occupying your own campus might be taken away from you is something that we simply won't take."

• We have a gorgeous picture gallery of the new Central Saint Martins campus which we've been watching grow across the road from the Guardian. It'll be fascinating to see what effect a huge injection of art students will have on an area with few aesthetic claims.

• And still on an arty theme - congrats to architect Zaha Hadid whose Z-shaped school in Brixton, south London, has beaten the hot favourite, the Olympic velodrome, to win the 16th annual RIBA Stirling prize for architecture. The Observer's architecture correspondent Rowan Moore comments:

"At a time when Michael Gove, and his cheerleader Toby Young, are denouncing architects for robbing the public, and denying that good design has anything to do with good education, here is a prize for a school of extreme architectural ambition."

Education news from around the web

• An alarming row's erupted over the Twitter musings of Chris Weadon, head of scientific research at the exam board AQA, who has criticised the academies programme and changes to school league tables. According to the Telegraph, AQA said last night it had launched an investigation into claims he broke strict internal rules governing use of social networking websites - and it could take disciplinary action.

The announcement comes after Nick Gibb, the schools minister, wrote to AQA claiming some of Wheadon's postings smacked of political bias and bordered on defamation. His account has been deleted, but @schoolduggery tweets:

"Chris Wheadon provided research-based analysis of govt policy and Gibb's attempt to destroy his career is nasty"

and later adds:

"Anyone unfamiliar with Chris Wheadon's work might like this cached example of his fine blog (and last twitter updates)."

• Still with the Telegraph: Up to 6,000 undergraduates will be taught at colleges instead of universities from next year as part of a coalition plan to drive down student tuition fees, while up to 2,300 places could be cut from elite Russell Group institutions. The disclosure is made as part of Labour research into radical reforms to higher education funding in 2012.

• The BBC reports that universities minister David Willetts held at least 12 meetings with for-profit education firms before publishing his plans for university reform for England, including two companies accused of recruitment or public loan fraud in the US.

• Chris Woodhead, former Ofsted chief, says the school leaving age should be 14:

"If a child at 14 has mastered basic literacy and numeracy, I would be very happy for that child to leave school and go into a combination of apprenticeship and further education training and a practical, hands-on, craft-based training that takes them through into a job."

Mossbourne Academy head Michael Wilshaw looks set to become the new head of Ofsted.

• If you've not stumbled across it yet, do make sure you look at the FT's comprehensive analysis of GCSE results over four years, which demonstrates that the achievement gap between poorer and wealthier children narrowed during Labour's last term of office.

Education seminars from Guardian Professional

The Guardian Teacher Network runs training sessions for teachers throughout the year in Yorkshire and London. Upcoming courses include:

Is your school thinking of becoming an academy?

This seminar will provide an independent view of the advantages and disadvantages of converting to academy status. It will look at the process of conversion, the implications of academy status, and the support and funding available. November 30, in London. February 21, 2012 in Yorkshire

Protecting young people in a digital age

Led by school digital safety experts, this one-day course will provide safeguarding policy and Ofsted criteria updates, as well as looking at social media and offering practical advice to help your school develop its digital safety policies. February 1, 2012 in London. February 8, 2012 in Yorkshire.

For a full list visit the Guardian Teacher Network

Teachers seminars from the Guardian Education Centre

Reading for pleasure - bringing classics to life

This half-day conference for secondary school teachers will explore the use and teaching of classic books from Dickens and beyond. Keynote speakers will be Simon Callow, actor and Dickens enthusiast, and Judy Golding, daughter of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies.

20 October, London.

Insight into digital journalism

Spend a day at the Guardian and find out how an international news media organisation works. The seminar will focus on aspects of digital journalism including writing and editing for a news website, the relationship between print and web journalism, live blogging, the use of social media, podcasting and video production.

2 November, Kings Place, London.